OPINION 


JOHN  JACOB  ASTOR  AND  WILLIAM  ASTOR 

ON  A 

BROADWAY  UNDERGROUND  RAILWAY. 


STATEMENT  OF 
ABISTER  BARTLETT,Esq. 

REPORT  OF 
SAMUEL  McELROY,  Chief  Engineer. 

1884. 


INTRODUCTORY. 


The  main  arguments  presented  at  the  joint  hearing  before  the  Senate  and 
Assembly  Railroad  Committee,  and  urged  upon  members  of  the  Legislature  and 
others,  were  based  upon  the  statement  that  the  Messrs.  Astor  and  other  Broad- 
way property  owners,  were  opposed  to  the  construction  of  the  Arcade  Railway  ; 
also,  that  a  Board  of  Commissioners,  appointed  by  the  Supreme  Court,  had  de- 
cided adversely  to  such  a  road.  We  have  taken  from  the  official  records  of  the 
proceedings  of  said  Commission,  and  herewith  submit,  the  statement  of  the  Messrs. 
Astor  and  their  engineer ;  also  extracts  from  the  report  of  said  Commissioners. 

It  will  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  persons  petitioning  had  no  charter  from 
the  Legislature,  but  applied  under  the  General  Tunneling  Act  for  the  right  only 
of  constructing  a  dark,  deep-sunken  tunnel  railroad,  from  the  post-office  to  14th 
street.  The  facts  stated  by  the  Commissioners,  and  the  objections  urged  against 
the  Tunnel  are,  substantially,  the  same  as  have  been  repeatedly  presented  by  the 
promoters  of  the  Arcade  plan,  and  they  do  not,  in  the  least,  militate  against  the 
practicability  of  an  Arcade  road.  On  the  other  hand,  the  facts  which  even  the 
Commissioners  state  "  were  well  and  sufficiently  proven,"  meet  and  remove  the 
objections  which  are  urged  by  those  who  oppose  the  Arcade. 

We  commend  these  authentic  records  to  your  thoughtful  attention. 


EVIDENCE  SUBMITTED  BEFORE  THE  BOARD  OF  COMMISSIONERS 
APPOINTED  BY  THE  SUPREME  COURT  ON  PETITION  OF  THE 
PROPOSED  "BROAD WAV  UNDERGROUND  CONNECTING  RAILWAY 
COMPANY,"  IN  1881 : 


Mr.  Auner  Babtlktt  appears  and  reads  before  the  Commission  the  following  state- 
ment : 

Mr.  Bartlett  :  "  Representing  the  interest  of  Mr.  J.  J.  Astor  and  Mr.  William  Astor, 
I  would  say  that,  should  your  honorable  Board  of  Commissioners,  after  hearing  the  evi- 
dence produced  here  in  favor  of  and  against  the  practicability  of  building  in  Broadway 
an  underground  railroad  between  the  points  asked  for  in  the  application  before  you,  con- 
clude that  said  road  can  be  built  carrying  four  tracks,  or  four  sets  of  tracks,  and  without 
essential  damage  to  the  buildings  abutting  on  the  line  of  Broadway,  and  without  seri- 
ously interfering  with  the  surface  roadway  and  with  the  travel  upon  the  surface  or  street, 
then  we  should  not  object  to  such  road  being  built. 

"  We  do  object  to  the  building  of  the  road  as  originally  planned  by  these  petitioners, 
namely,  a  two-track  road,  with  very  restrtcted  apartments  or  tunnels,  as  being  unques- 
tionably inadequate  for  the  New  York,  both  of  the  early  and  later  future,  and  only  assent 
to  the  proposition,  provided,  as  I  have  said,  your  Honorable  Board  find  upon  the  inves- 
tigation into  the  subject,  that  an  underground  road  can  be  built  in  Broadway  consistently 
with  the  interests  of  abutting  property  ;  and  also  provided  it  is  to  be  a  four-track  road, 
so  that  local  and  express  trains  can  be  run  upon  it  with  safety  and  security,  and  the 
apartments  or  tuneels  are  to  be  made  as  large  as  the  street  will  reasonably  admit. 

"  We,  in  connection  with  other  parties  interested  in  Broadway  property,  have  asked 
Mr.  Samuel  MeElroy,  Civil  Engineer,  to  examine  into  the  whole  subject  for  us,  and  his  re- 
port made  to  us,  he  has  in  hand,  and  we  submit  its  reading  by  him  to  you." 


From  an  examination  of  the  testimony  fend  plans  in  the  Broadway  Underground  Rail- 
way case,  I  am  of  the  following  opinion : 

The  structure  proposed  will  not  prevent  a  proper  re-arrangement  of  the  gas  and 
water  mains,  and  it  can  be  made  to  accommodate  the  telegraph  and  telephone  wires. 

For  the  sewerage  of  Broadway  proper,  a  small  pipe  on  each  side  will  answer  every  pur- 
pose, and  is  easily  arranged.  For  the  Canal  street  case  it  appears  that  the  present  sewer, 
four  feet  in  diameter,  is  about  nine  inches  in  grade  above  mean  high  tide,  and  is  backed 
up  by  spring  tides ;  west  of  Broadway  no  change  will  be  made  by  this  construction  ;  cast 
of  Broadway  the  sewerage  can  be  carried  toward  the  East  river,  subject  to  similar  back- 


[Seo  Commissioners'  Report,  Vol.  2,  pages  508  and  o92.] 


Broadway  Rapid  Transit. 


5 


ing  up.  In  this  case,  as  in  that  of  other  lines  across  Broadway,  I  have  not  made  any 
elaborate  examination,  as  it  is  evident  on  inspection  that  there  are  no  impracticable  diffi- 
culties.   The  entire  Canal  street  valley  sewerage  is  more  defective  in  arrangement,  and 

will  need,  at  the  proper  time,  adequate  drainage  by  interception  and  pumping. 

***** 

As  to  the  construction  of  such  a  double  tunnel  in  the  Broadway  formation,  chiefly  of 
sand  and  gravel,  without  exposing  the  foundations  of  the  buildings  or  vaults  on  either  side 
to  any  danger,  I  see  no  engineering  difficulty  which  the  usual  appliances  will  not  meet. 
It  is  necessary  to  guard  the  excavations  from  any  flow  of  material  from  the  sides  or  front 
and  if  this  is  done  no  disturbances  can  occur.  In  the  very  tedious,  difficult  and  danger- 
ous construction  of  much  of  the  London  underground  work,  where  the  most  important 
streets,  sewers  and  buildings  were  undermined,  the  Thames  embankment,  and  the  river 
itself  crossed  in  a  formation  specially  treacherous,  far  below  tide  level  in  various  cases  ; 
the  work  was  accomplished  safely  and  effectually,  and  has  been  in  constant  use  since  its 

opening,  for  the  transportation  of  over  60,000,000  of  passengers  annually. 

***** 

While  this  covers  the  question  of  construction  under  the  present  plan  proposed,  in  the 
effect  on  buildings  and  property,  I  may  venture  to  carry  this  explanation  a  step  further, 
by  request,  in  a  brief  discussion  of  the  general  question  of  rapid  transit,  in  relation  to 
Broadway  property,  and  to  the  comparative  scale  of  the  plan  proposed. 

Through  a  continuous  series  of  years  the  property  owners  have  practically  prevented 
the  natural  artery  of  New  York,  as  to  its  location  and  as  to  its  business  and  financial 
rank,  from  furnishing  any  adequate  transit  accommodation  to  the  vast  numbers  of  peo- 
ple drawn  toward  it  from  New  Jersey,  Staten  Island  and  Long  Island,  from  Westchester 
and  Connecticut,  and  the  railway  systems  which  connect  with  New  York. 

The  result  is,  that  instead  of  being  the  central  highway  of  the  Island,  with  its  branch 
lines  radiating  from  Union  Square,  parallel  lines  in  less  favorable  streets  have  been  used 
for  street  cars  and  steam  transit,  and  as  those  systems  arc  gradually  improved,  the  effect, 
according  to  all  ordinary  laws  of  movement,  will  be  to  create  substitutes  for  Broadway, 

in  convenience  of  access,  and  valuation  of  property,  reacting  against  this  avenue. 

,  *  *  *  *  * 

The  question  then  arises  for  serious  discussion,  whether  the  present  is  not  the  time  for 
Broadway  to  look  the  next  fifty  years  in  the  face,  and  take  proper  measures  to  retain  its 
prestige,  and  how  far  this  proposed  plan  meets  this  contingency. 

With  ten  main  avenues  of  transit  we  now  have  nine  double-track  street  railways,  and 
four  double-track  elevated  steam  lines.    In  1879  their  travel  was  109,755,647. 

This  then  represents  the  travel  which  now  passes  around  Broadway  because  this  avenue 

will  not  take  it. 

*  *  *  *  * 

If  Broadway  should  be  able  to  put  the  Battery  within  eight  minutes  of  Union  Square, 
with  a  capacity  of  30,000.000  to  send  through  about  eighteen  miles  to  a  center  opposite 
Yonkers,  which  should  be  done  in  not  over  forty-five  minutes,  it  would  take  its  proper 
place  among  the  avenues.  This  could  be  accomplished  by  a  double  track  express  line. 
If  it  should  also  provide  a  double  track  way  line  of  15,000,000,  its  local  business  would 
be  supreme.    This  the  present  plan  does  not  secure. 


6 


Fortunately,  with  forty-two  to  forty-four  foot  carriage-way,  it  will  require  but  a  small 
concession  of  vault  space,  on  any  part,  to  furnish  this  street  with  such  a  four-track  under- 
ground line. 

***** 

Without  any  injurious  encroachment  on  vault  room,  Broadway  can  ho  made  the  most 
effectual  artery  of  rapid  transit  in  New  York,  and  become  the  terminus  of  all  the  subur- 
ban lines,  and  share  advantages  now  driven  to  other  avenues. 

"  Remarkable  progress!  has  been  made  in  the  use  of  naptha  gas  and  superheated 
Bteam.  The  use  of  compressed  air  has  been  relieved  from  some  hindrances,  and  from 
careful  experiments  I  know  that  a  mixture  of  compressed  air  and  steam  is  an  entire  suc- 
cess in  increased  power  with  greatly  reduced  expense.  Rapid  progress  has  been  made  in 
electric  motors  ;  the  English  engines  burn  coke.  It  is  not  necessary,  therefore,  to  burn  a 
pound  of  common  coal  under  Broadway,  for  engines,  and  its  objectionable  products  may 
thus  be  largely  avoided,  while  the  exhaust  steam  is  easily  condensed  in  the  engine  tanks. 
There  will  be  no  objection  then  to  ample  street  ventilators,  supplementing  the  free  use  of 
side  chimneys.  The  maintenance  of  a  comfortable,  uniform  temperature,  is  easily  accom- 
plished, and  its  advantages  to  track  superstructure  very  important. 

In  such  a  structure  the  highest  economy  in  operating  expense  is  attainable.  Trains, 
conveniently  reached  by  short  stairway,  will  move  on  solid  ground,  where  engines  can  be 
handled,  at  high  speed,  confidently,  on  easy  grades  and  curves,  where  derailment  is  se- 
curely guarded  ;  signal  lights,  not  likely  to  be  lost  in  fogs;  no  risks  to  occur  from  wind- 
storms, rains,  snows,  fogs  or  frost ;  fires  not  likely  to  cause  delay  or  long  obstructions ; 
residences,  churches  or  stores  not  disturbed  by  noise,  smoke,  gas  or  other  nuisances  ; 
pedestrians,  cars  and  carriages  not  subject  to  falling  cinders,  oil,  rust,  water,  tools,  or  other 
damages  ;  while  the  operating  expenses  will  be  reduced  to  about  thirty-five  per  cent  of 
gross  earnings,  or  nearly  half  the  average  of  the  elevated  lines  ;  and  the  formidable  ques- 
tions of  taxation,  damages  to  property  and  otherwise,  reduced  to  a  minimum." 

The  operating  expense  of  the  London  lines,  as  compared  with  those  here,  is  as  Si  to 
57^;  the  number  carried  is  about  the  same. 

The  conclusion  which  follows  goes  to  show  that  the  plan  proposed  is  not  impractic- 
able, and  may  be  carried  out  without  exposing  the  property  to  serious  injury,  and  in  its 
operation  will  benefit  the  avenue  and  the  city  ;  but  that  Broadway  is  readily  adapted  to 
a  development  of  this  plan  to  a  much  greater  scale,  which  the  present  state  of  rapid 
transit  and  of  rival  avenues  makes  not  only  advisable  but  urgent. 

Respectfully  submitted, 

SAMUEL  McELROY, 

Civil  Engineer. 

Note. —  William  W.  Astor,  while  a  State  Senator  in  1881,  voted  iu  favor  of  the  charter  of  the  Broadway 
Underground  Railway,  and  personally  solicited  the  approval  of  Governor  Cornell. 

Extract  from  the  Report  of  the  Board  of  Commissionfrs  (referred  to  on  introduc- 
tory l'AGE.) 

''The  proposed  plan  of  construction  involves  seven  or  more  openings  in  the  side 
streets  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  Broadway,  sufficient  in  extent  to  permit  the  expedi- 


7 


tious  removal,  at  the  several  openings,  of  the  material  excavated  from  Broadway,  and  the 
introduction  of  construction  materials  ;  it  also  involves  erecting  temporary  bridges,  to  he 
thrown  across  Broadway  and  supported  at  the  curb-stones,  at  an  elevation  of  two  or  three 
feet  above  the  curb,  in  order  that  travel  upon  that  thoroughfare  may  not  be  wholly  in- 
terrupted. It  also  involves  the  necessity  of  having  the  timbers  of  such  bridges  of  suffi- 
cient strength  to  suspend  and  hold  in  position  such  water  pipes  and  gas  pipes  as  are  to  be 
left  and  remain  in  Broadway,  after  such  tunnel  shall  be  completed.  It  also  involves  re- 
building elsewhere,  under  the  supervision  of  the  proper  departments  of  the  city,  but  at 
the  petitioner's  expense,  of  trunk  sewers,  and  laying  water  mains  in  substitution  for  the 
greater  part  of  the  service  now  performed  by  the  large  sewers  and  water  mains  now 
located  under  Broadway;  the  new  sewers  and  water  mains  to  be  completed,  connected, 
and  ready  for  use  before  the  old  sewers  and  water  mains  are  disturbed,  and  before  the 
construction  of  the  tunnel  shall  be  commenced. 

"  The  stations  are  intended  to  occupy  spaces  partly  beneath  the  sidewalks,  varying 
from  six  to  fourteen  feet  in  width,  and  about  five  hundred  feet  long;  the  entrances  and 
exits  to  and  from  which  are  to  be  through  the  ground  floors  and  basements  of  buildings 
fronting  on  Broadway,  and  the  stations  and  the  tunnel  proper  are  intended  to  be  ventilated 
in  part  by  apertures  terminating  in  iron  columns  to  be  erected  on  the  sidewalks  at  fre- 
quent intervals. 

"The  proposed  plan  also  involves  the  protection  against  injury  or  damage  to  the  build- 
ings fronting  on  Broadway  which  would  result  from  excavating  the  street  to  the  requisite 
depth,  and  thereby  weakening  or  undermining  the  foundations  of  the  buildings,  which 
go  to  a  depth  of  from  twelve  to  thirty  feet  below  the  sidewalk.  This  protection  involves 
sheath  piling,  with  bracing,  underpinning  with  needles,  shoring,  or  the  building  of  new 
piers  beneath  the  present  foundations,  or  a  combination  of  two  or  more  of  these  methods, 
as  the  particular  case  may  require. 

"There  is  some  conflict  of  evidence  upon  the  subject-matters  referred  to  in  the  three 
preceding  paragraphs;  but  it  appears  to  be  welt  and  sufficiently  proven  that  the  present 
state  of  the  science  of  engineering  is  such  that  a  sufficient  amount  of  time  and  money 
and  the  use  of  adequate  means  are  the  only  limitations  to  the  successful  performance  of 
the  worli  proposed.  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  * 

"The  proofs  do  not  warrant  the  expectation,  much  less  establish  as  a  fact,  that  the 
proposed  railroad  of  the  petitioner,  if  successfully  completed  and  in  operation,  will  of 
itself  and  alone,  supply,  to  any  extent,  the  present  needs  or  future  requirements  which  it 
is  intended  to  meet.  As  a  link  of  a  completed  system  of  similarly  constrncted  railroad 
extending  southerly  to  the  Battery  and  northwardly  from  Fourteenth  street  to  a  connec- 
tion with  other  established  lines  of  railroad  traversing  the  city  th  rough  its  entire  length, 
the  proposed 1  railroad  of  the  petitioner  might  be  very  desirable,  if  not  necessary,  xohen 
constructed  in  a  proper  manner  and  under  proper  conditions,  although  at  the  expense  of 
public  and  private  interests." 

Dated  New  York,  February  19,  1883. 

JOSEPH  S.  BOSWORTH. 
JNO.  O'BRIEN, 
ARTEMAS  H.  HOLMES, 

Commissioners. 


s 


The  objections  tlie  commissioners  found  to  &  tunnel  road  (contrasted  with  the  advant- 
ages of  the  arcade)  are : 

That  a  tunnel  would  obviously  lack  capacity  to  accommodate  the  travel. 

The  four-track  Arcade  road,  on  the  other  ha  id,  can  accommodate  100,000  passengers 
an  hour. 

That  a  tunnel  road  would  be  a  tremendous  obstruction  —  would  require  an  excava- 
tion of  thirty  feet  in  depth  —  more  than  forty  cubic  yards  of  earth  to  every  running  foot  — 
the  removal  of  all  this  earth,  and  the  storage  in  the  lateral  streets  of  the  enormous  quan- 
tity necessary  to  refill  Broadway  above  the  completed  tunnel,  and  the  relaying  on  this  pile 
of  loose  dirt,  the  pavement  of  this  magnificent  thoroughfare. 

The  shallow  excavations  required  for  the  Arcade  would  create  no  obstruction  what- 
ever, and  the  roadbed  when  completed  would  be  as  perfect  as  science  coidd  devise. 

That  a  tunnel  road  would  be  dark,  ill-ventilated  and  unwholesome. 

The  Arcade  would  be  well  ventilated,  light  and  pure. 

That  a  tunnel  road  (from  Park  Place  to  Fourteenth  street)  would  connect  no  great 
systems  of  travel  ;  would  begin  nowhere  and  lead  nowhere. 

The  Arcade  road  would  begin  somewhere  and  lead  everywhere  ;  it  would  furnish 
just  exactly  the  swift  passage  which  the  narrow  island  now  imperatively  demands  and 
form  a  continuous  connection  with  the  railway  system  of  the  entire  country. 

That  a  tunnel  road  would  not  accommodate  way  travel,  and  would  bring  to  the  trade 
of  Broadway  no  advantages  to  compensate  for  the  tearing  up  of  the  street. 

The  Arcade  Railway,  on  the  contrary,  would  duplicate  Broadway,  with  a  sub-sur- 
face street  well  lighted  and  ventilated;  would  change  the  dark  cellars  into  basement  stores, 
fronting  on  pleasant  sidewalks ;  would  provide  vaults  ample  and  accessible  for  all  pipes 
and  wires,  thus  avoiding  the  necessity  of  tearing  up  the  street;  would,  having  four  tracks, 
furnish  real  rapid  transit, provide  the  cheapest  and  most  complete  accommodation  possible 
for  way  travel,  and  for  transportation  of  freight  and  express,  aud  by  thus  removing  all 
obstructive  vehicles  from  the  upper  street,  systematizing  the  travel,  and  by  the  applica- 
tion of  a  motive  power,  vastly  more  effective  than  can  be  used  on  the  surface  street, 
would  not  only  more  than  treble  the  capacity  of  Broadway  in  all  the  essential  elements 
which  make  a  street  useful  and  adjacent  property  valuable,  but  restore  to  Broadway 
more  than  its  former  prestige,  and  by  the  magnificence  of  the  design  and  utility  of  its 
arrangement  would  surpass  any  street  in  the  world. 

lion.  Melville  C.  Smith, 

President  '■'■The  Broadway  Underground  Railway  Cb." 

170  Broadway,  ) 
New  York  City,  March  2J  1884.  j 
Dear  Siii  —  From  an  intimate  professional  and  personal  acquaintance  with  public 
works  on  Long  Island  and  New  York  Island  since  1852,  I  am  of  the  following  opinion,  as 
to  the  proposed  Broadway  Arcade  Railway. 

First.  As  the  most  direct  avenue  to  be  selected  for  connecting  the  Battery  with  its 
ferries;  the  Long  Island  and  New  Jersey  passenger  and  freight  railroads  and  ferries;  the 
business  center  of  the  city  ;  the  railroads  above  42d  street,  upper  New  York  and  the 
suburb  district  across  the  Harlem  river,  any  experienced  engineer  would  select  Broadway, 


9 


after  a  proper  examination  of  its  line,  location,  levels,  subsoil,  sewers,  water,  gas  and 
other  pipe  systems,  and  its  structures. 

Second.  The  railway  system  for  such  an  avenue  must  have  four  tracks,  and  the  width 
between  curbs  is  ample  for  their  safe  and  efficient  use,  the  outside  tracks  being  used  for 
way  travel,  with  cars  of  the  width  and  character,  with  some  modifications  for  ingress  and 
egress,  of  the  present  eleveated  railways;  the  central  tracks  being  used  for  express 
business;  and  all  tracks  used  for  freight  at  convenient  hours.  This  will  require  about 
forty-two  feet,  which  is  the  width  between  curbs,  at  the  narrowest  point  on  a  street  eighty 
feet  wide.  It  is  not  necessary  to  take  time  here  to  show  the  value  of  four  tracks  for 
adequate  accommodation,  and  the  propriety  of  restricting  fast  trains  to  distinct  inner 
tracks;  or  the  defects  of  the  elevated  system,  in  speed  restricted  to  about  twelve  miles 
per  hour,  or  its  limit  of  transit  nearly  reached. 

Third.  This  system  should  be  underground.  I  think  no  engineer  familiar  with  the 
cost  and  contingencies  of  operation  and  maintenance  of  the  elevated  roads  would  advise 
their  repetition  on  Broadway.  Such  a  structure  on  such  an  avenue  would  be  a  serious 
injury  to  its  appearance  and  use  for  business  purposes"  and  avenue  travel,  although  it 
would  carry  a  large  number  of  passengers.  Yet  it  is  quite  obvious  that  Broadway,  to 
retain  its  standing,  must  choose  between  an  elevated  or  underground  railway. 

Such  a  system,  with  well-arranged  walks  on  each  side,  practically  gives  the  business 
another  tirst-class  story  for  display  and  sale  of  'goods,  immediately  fronting  on  a  city  car 
line.  And  in  such  a  formation  as  exists  here,  anywhere  above  tide-level,  this  can  be 
secured  without  depriving  them  of  the  vault  space  for  storage,  which  is  a  prominent  use 
of  the  street  below  the  sidewalks,  and  can  be  made  as  useful  and  kept  quite  as  dry  below 
the  proposed  walk  for  the  width  it  appropriates. 

Fourth.  Broadway  has  had  most  significant  warnings  that  its  property-owners  and 
business  men  must  not  maintain  the  opposition  made  for  more  than  twenty  years  against 
railway  accommodation  along  this  avenue.  The  result  is  and  must  be  to  create  other  ave- 
nues of  travel,  to  divert  the  public  and  its  business  away  from  it,  and  depreciate  the 
value  and  income  of  its  property.  Statistics  in  some  cases  show,  as  between  1S72  and 
1879,  a  serious  depression  in  rents,  and  the  laws  of  public  accommodation  show  the  con- 
nection between  such  an  effect  and  its  cause.  In  1879  nine  double-track  street  railways 
and  four  double-track  elevated  lines  carried  around  Broadway,  up  and  down  town,  169,- 
755,617  passengers;  in  1883  the  railway  travel  was  268,718,877. 

In  October,  1881,  at  the  request  of  A.  Bartlett,  Esq.,  agent  of  Messrs.  John  J 
and  William  Astor,  I  prepared  for  him  and  submitted  to  the  Commission  then  in  ses 
sion  on  the  Broadway  Underground  Railway  matter,  an  opinion  on  the  feasibility  of  con- 
struction of  a  four-track  railwaj7,  under  this  avenue,  as  to  its  effect  below  Union  square, 
as  to  the  various  objections  which  had  been  raised,  and  I  came  to  the  following  conclu- 
sions : 

That  its  summit  position  relieved  the  sewerage  system  from  embarrassment,  since 
the  water  flowed  both  ways  from  the  avenue  as  a  rule,  and  that  the  Canal  street  exception 
did  not  involve  anv  serious  difficultv. 

That  as  to  the  water,  gas  and  other  pipe  and  wire  systems,  the  construction  of  such 
a  work  was  highly  opportune,  since  it  enabled  the  city  authorities,  once  for  all,  to  adop. 
a  compact  and  convenient  arrangement  for  the  present  and  future,  which,  like  the  trunk 


10 


sewer  lines  of  Paris,  would  provide  ample  accommodation,  free  access,  and  cheap  main- 
tenance, for  what  is  now  a  complicated,  vexatious  and  totally  inadequate  system.  The 
corrosion  of  these  pipes  is  now  an  expensive  and  dangerous  condition  of  their  location 
which  this  structure  would  greatly  benefit. 

That  as  to  the  risk  of  damage  to  foundations  of  buildings,  no  avenue  could  be 
selected  in  a  more  advantageous  condition,  since  the  formation  is  the  well  known  coarse 
brown  sand  which  makes  a  stable  foundation  for  any  building,  which  does  not  retain  any 
soil  or  rain  water  except  at  a  level  very  near  that  of  tide,  and  therefore  is  not  exposed  to 
quicksand  runs;  which  has  a  slope  of  repose  of  about  one  and  a  third  to  one,  so  that  as 
long  as  this  slope  is  maintained,  no  sliding  nor  settling  can  occur;  while  protection 
sheathing  is  easily  made  in  case  any  portion  of  this  slope  is  to  be  disturbed  for  construction. 

The  buildings,  as  a  rule,  have  the  very  prominent  advantage  and  protection  of  the 
permanent  vaults,  built  under  the  sidewalks,  in  some  cases  over  twenty  feet  dee]),  and  in 
all  cases  with  strong  partitions  which  form  most  admirable  counter-forts  at  right  angles 
to  the  line  of  thrust  in  case  there  is  any  disturbance  of  the  sub-soil. 

With  all  the  improvements  in  methods  of  sub-soil  and  sub-marine  foundations,  now 
at  our  service,  and  especially  with  the  remarkable  success  and  stability  of  the  under- 
ground railway  work,  in  London  and  other  European  cities,  in  Baltimore,  St.  Louis,  and 
other  cities  here,  no  experienced  engineer  can  have  any  serious  question  as  to  the  entire 
feasibility  of  this  construction,  on  Broadway,  and  at  Canal  street,  or  Whitehall, 
or  for  branch  lines  down  town,  likely  to  be  built  in  connection  with  this  work,  no 
risk  can  occur,  at  all  comparable  with  many  of  those  in  the  cases  cited. 

Looking  at  this  work  as  a  close  student  of  the  difficult  problem  of  terminal  facilities 
for  the  proper  reception  of  the  enormous  and  rapidly  increasing  trunk  line  traffic  of  the 
west,  and  its  return  freight  from  the  business  center  of  New  York,  in  a  case  where  it 
costs  as  much,  sometimes,  to  "put  a  load  into  a  car  here  as  it  does  to  carry  it  to 
Chicago  ;  having  in  mind  also  the  tendency  of  shipping  business  to  work  southward,  on 
both  sides  of  New  York  bay,  and  the  vital  uses  of  a  united  railway  system  for  Long 
Island,  New  Jersey  and  New  York,  for  passengers  and  freight,  in  addition  to  the  advan- 
tage of  putting  the  Battery  within  eight  minutes  of  Union  Square  and  forty-five  minutes 
of  Yonkers  and  its  belt ;  it  seems  to  me  that  the  propriety  and  the  necessity  of  a  short, 
direct,  low-grade  railway  acting  like  this,  to  Broadway,  tending  towards  decline,  to  New 
York  as  a  city,  to  the  environs  of  New  York  bay,  and  to  upper  New  York,  are  so  plain 
as  to  raise  this  question  far  above  any  mere  avenue  improvement,  while  its  effect  on  the 
avenue  proper  must  be  direct  and  conclusive. 

In  my  opinion  then,  from  long  familiarity  with  the  conditions  of  the  harbor,  of  the 
cities  built  on  it,  and  their  traffic,  this  plan  is  of  vital  consequence  to  them  all,  and 
specially  so,  to  New  York  city,  and  local  or  personal  objections,  even  where  well  founded, 
ought  to  give  way  to  the  general  welfare. 

Respectfully  submitted, 

SAMUEL  McELROY, 

Civil  Engineer 


ll 

We  add  the  following  complete  and  unqualified  endorsement  of  the  Arcade  plan  by 
the  eminent  engineers  whose  names  are  appended  : 

"1.  It  provides  a  pleasant,  rapid  transit  for  through  passengers  between  the  lower  and 
upper  ends  of  the  island,  and  a  slower  but  still  speedy  movement  for  the  local  passengers. 

"  2.  It  provides  a  cheap  and  convenient  channel  for  the  conveyance  of  freight  between 
the  termini  of  the  steam  railways  and  a  large  portion  of  the  business  houses  in  the  city. 

"3.  It  classifies  the  travel  and  trade  and  removes  from  the  present  street  so  many  of 
its  vehicles  as  to  render  it  more  useful  and  pleasant  for  carriages. 

'''4.  It  furnishes  an  arcade  avenue  and  promenade  convenient  for  pedestrians  at  all 
times,  and  with  special  advantages  in  warm,  cold  or  stormy  weather.  ^ 

"  5.  The  sub-way  will  be  well  ventilated  and  lighted,  so  that  its  use  will  be  pleasant  and 
healthy. 

"  C.  It  can  be  constructed  without  interruption,  either  to  the  travel  on  the  street  or  the 
convenient  use  of  the  buildings  adjacent,  and  without  occupying  the  street  for  the  haul- 
ing of  the  materials  required  from  or  to  the  work ;  and  it  can  be  built  without  endanger- 
ing any  of  the  structures  along  the  street,  and  with  arrangements  for  a  better  location  of 
the  water  and  gas-pipes  and  sewers,  and  without  any  interruption  of  the  present  connec- 
tions. 

"  7.  The  route  selected,  namely,  that  along  Broadway,  is  determined  by  the  topogra- 
phy of  the  island. 

"  8.  It  in  no  case  occupies  or  injures  any  private  property,  but  in  nearly  all  cases 
greatly  enhances  the  value  of  the  property  along  its  route. 

"  9.  There  are  no  difficulties  attending  the  construction  of  the  work  which  cannot  be 
overcome  with  engineering  skill,  and  at  a  comparatively  moderate  cost. 

l<  Finally,  it  meets  a  necessity  in  the  most  complete  and  unobjectionable  manner." 

George  B.  McClellan,        Sylvanus  A.  Sweet,  Charles  H.  Haswell, 

William  J.  MoAlpine,         I.  F.  Quinby,  H.  G.  Wright, 

Egbert  L.  Vikle,  John  B.  Jarvis,  John  Newton, 

Julius  W.  Adams,  Silas  W.  Seymour,  J.  N.  Greene. 

To  these  may  be  added  the  names  of  many  other  prominent  engineers  and  architects  in- 
cluding the  strong  endorsement  of  W.  P.  Trowbridge,  Professor  of  Engineering  ot 
Columbia  College,  in  Harpers  Weekly  of  March  29th  ;  of  his  brother,  Chas.  A.  Trow- 
bridge in  a  letter  to  the  Daily  Graphic  of  April  7th,  also  of  George  B.  Post  before  the 
recent  joint  meeting  of  the  Railroad  Committee  of  the  Senate  and  Assembly. 

The  press  and  public  of  New  York  city  have  with  remarkable  unanimity  urged  the 
adoption  of  the  arcade  road,  and  the  already  large  and  rapidly  increasing  number  of  own- 
ers and  occupants  on  Broadway,  favoring  this  plan,  bear  evidence  of  how  completely  it 
meets  an  imperitive  need  of  the  city  and  how  greatly  it  would  benefit  the  property  along 
its  route. 


Office  of 

"The  Broadway  I'ndergrouud  Railway  Co.," 

115  Broadway,  New  York  City,  1884 


sew 


Ex  idtbrtfi 


SEYMOUR  DURST 


'Tort  nteuw  ^imjitrthm  ojr  Je  Mtrnhatans 


IVben  you  leave,  please  leave  this  book 

Because  it  has  been  said 
" Ever'thing  comes  t'  him  who  waits 

Except  a  loaned  book." 


?~7 


Avery  Architectural  and  Fine  Arts  Library 
Gift  of  Seymour  B.  Durst  Old  York  Library 


